As part of working through some story ideas, I did some studies on what a Rat Soldier might look like.
Started with some online reference for some quick sketches.
Wet RatCautious Rat
Next, I worked in a more stylized approach which I quite like.
Rat Soldier
Then repeating the style, I sketched what a squad of these tough guys might look like. Not crazy about how the lead rat’s neck came out, but I think they come off as a pretty tough bunch.
After eight years living in San Francisco, we moved to Wilmington, North Carolina this past August. It was a big decision, but we were ready for a change in scenery.
Moving across the country is a big ordeal. But, after a disaster of a red eye flight with a poor 14 year old cat in tow, we made it safely.
One of the draws to coastal North Carolina were the warmer beaches. Shortly after our exhausting move, we took some time to enjoy nearby Wrightsville Beach.
Of course, this meant sketch time for me. I used a favorite brush pen and some watercolor to quickly capture the day in a very old pocket-sized sketchbook.
I started this year off with a fun project. My niece recently had a birthday party featuring a cat theme. She had cat cake, cat plates, cat napkins, and even cat-themed gift bags for her friends.
My sister asked me to design a thank you card fitting the party’s theme and who better to adorn the card then our friend, Little the Cat.
Rough Pencil Sketch
The final piece was done in India Ink on watercolor paper — with a “Little” help.
The Original Little the Cat, lending assistance
Here’s the finished piece before sending it off to the printers.
Well… life, work, and exhaustion ended my run for this year’s Inktober. I did manage three more days’ pieces, but I didn’t come close to meeting my goals. Anyway, here are my last three Inktober drawings for 2018.
Missed a couple days and decided to combine three days’ prompts into one piece of artwork. Here I combined “Precious”, “Flowing”, and “Cruel” for days 9 through 11.
It’s hard to believe that it is again time for Inktober and we’re already a third of the way into the October. This is my third Inktober and, unlike last year, I’m following the daily prompts.
This time around, I don’t yet have a story ready for artwork but, I’m taking the opportunity to practice drawing some of the characters, environments, and props that may make their way into my next project. So each day I’m using the daily prompt to inform what I’ll put my characters through.
Day 3 – Roasting
Unfortunately, the busiest time of the year at work coincides with Inktober so I’ve already given myself permission to skip a day here and there. After all, I do need to sleep.
If you would like to follow along, I’m posting each day’s artwork on my Instagram feed.